Peach and Plum Do Not Speak

Tao Anzhi didn't know how old other people's memories started. She remembered things from a very early age.

Like she never saw her parents. She only has a grandfather.

For example, she has the best and most powerful grandfather in the world. He knew everything, taught her to write, taught her to memorize multiplication formulas, and recite ancient poems.

My grandfather was a retired chemistry teacher, and he was kind. Life in the small town is simple and dull, but she is very happy. When the weather is good, my grandfather will take her to go fishing with her bicycle. She sat on the back seat of the bicycle, her feet dangling and counting the white clouds in the sky.

There are few people in the village, and almost everyone has a little relative relationship that can be calculated without abacus. Tao Anzhi knew that the grandfather in his memory had hardly ever lost his temper. He always had a smile on his face and was very popular. After walking around, someone would greet him and call "Mr. Tao" from far away. Some onions, **** and garlic.

On Saturdays and Sundays, there will be students tutoring here, and sometimes he will cook food for the students to stay for dinner. Top-notch craftsmanship. Many students even begged their parents to pay more tuition fees for them to take care of their meals.

Such a good grandfather, an omnipotent grandfather.

Tao Anzhi clearly remembered that morning, her first day in kindergarten. She was wearing a new dress that her grandfather bought her, and sat obediently at the dining table drinking porridge, with her brand-new schoolbag on the chair next to her. The pink color is in the shape of a rabbit, fluffy, and has two long drooping ears. It was bought from the town by my grandfather's trustee. She liked it so much that she almost slept with her back on her back.

Halfway through the porridge, my grandfather said with a smile, "By the way, I forgot to bring us a red egg for Tao Tao."

It is a rural custom that on the first day of school, parents will prepare two red eggs and bring them to school to eat.

Tao Anzhi did not expect that this was the last sentence her grandfather said to her.

Tao Anzhi waited for a while without waiting for him. Suddenly there was a muffled sound in the kitchen, as if something heavy hit the ground. She called out to her grandfather, but there was no answer, she slid off the chair and ran to the kitchen.

At the door she stopped. A bright red egg rolled to her feet. She looked over in confusion. Grandpa was holding another egg in his hand, and his face had turned blue-gray.

Tao Anzhi didn't go to kindergarten that day.

She was completely vague about what happened next. Someone came over and put on a white filial attire and hemp for her. The elders of the same sect came to help, and a temporary mourning hall was set up at home.

She sat alone on the bench in the mourning hall, her ears were full of various voices, crying, mourning, and they were discussing burial, cremation and the like.

And those who she called aunt and aunt were chattering not far away:

"I heard that it was a sudden myocardial infarction. It went very quickly. When the son of the old Yang family who delivered the gas went home, his body was cold..."

"Poor Teacher Tao, have you informed his daughter? I heard that she is in Beicheng?"

"Mr. Tao's daughter? I haven't seen her for many years. Hey, she's not sensible. She gave birth to her daughter at a young age and gave it to Teacher Tao. The child is six years old, and I haven't seen her come back to take a look..."

"What's going on here, where's the child's father? Why is the surname Tao after Teacher Tao?"

"Be quiet, the child is still there..."

The voice that was getting louder and louder was deliberately suppressed, and it sounded rustling. Like the thick fallen leaves covered in the winter forest, some unknown monster lurks below.

Come out and bite you at any time.

"Daughter born out of wedlock" "The other party is a rich man, and he doesn't admit it... That's why he entered the Tao family's household registration."

Tao Anzhi was only six years old at the time, and her grandfather had taught her to recognize a lot of words, and she actually understood a lot.

She was silent.

Grandpa lay in the "wooden box" and put on another set of his clothes. She had seen it, it was something he didn't wear very often, and it was ironed straight and compliant. When he was alive, he liked to laugh, but now his face was a gray wood color, and his lips seemed to be upturned.

"Go in peace," that's what those people said.

And these people are still talking around without playing.

Grandpa said before: Children should not interrupt when adults are talking.

So she didn't interrupt.

But Grandpa couldn't stand up and stop them now.

Tao Anzhi slowly lowered his head.

She just sat motionless, her pale mourning dress, her small body like a little rigid statue. The adults around come and go, handling funeral related matters. Some elders noticed her and brought her food. At night, she wanted to stay to watch the night, but she was helpless, and she was sent to the elders of the same clan in the village to spend the night.

The next day, she came to the mourning hall early and followed the instructions of the adults to offer incense, kneel down, and burn paper.

Although this season is early autumn, the heat is still poisonous, and the remains cannot be placed for too long. Funerals and cremations are required, and then the urns can be placed in the village ancestral hall.

Tao Anzhi's grandfather lost his wife early, with only one daughter and one granddaughter. When he died, he was still under 60, so he was not happy. Just keep everything simple.

But no matter how simple it is, there must be a filial son and a filial daughter. The old man in charge asked angrily: "What's going on? The daughter of the Tao family hasn't arrived yet? It's too unfilial! Parents are here, not traveling far! Now! Her parents are gone, what about her?"

The old man is seventy-five years old. He fought a devil when he was young. He has served as a village party secretary for several times. He has done business in the sea. He has a high prestige in the village. Not many people dared to answer. Everything is ready now, except for the person who should have arrived long ago.

The old uncle wanted to say a few more words, and his eyes swept to Tao Anzhi, who was kneeling, the child's dark eyes, and the body that had been unable to cover the coffin for a long time, and swallowed the few words he wanted to say.

Mending fell apart and did not end well.

Is there anything more depressing than this?

Uncle thought.

Tao Anzhi still didn't speak, knelt in front of the coffin, and once again turned himself into a small rigid clay sculpture.

At this moment, a woman rushed in from the door. Before everyone could react, she knelt down with a plop, walked a few steps to the coffin, and called out sadly, "Dad..."

After kowtowing three times, she still hung her head, her shoulders were trembling, and she was sobbing.

Her neck is long and snow-white, and her quivering drooping look presents an astonishingly fragile beauty. The surrounding environment seemed to be quiet all of a sudden, and there was only her thin and crunchy mourning in the mourning hall.

Tao Anzhi stared at her without blinking, watching the surrounding aunts and aunts sobbing to comfort her, watching the men beside them with unbearable expressions, even the old uncle looked away.

Suddenly she raised her head and looked here, Tao Anzhi met her eyes, the unfamiliar and familiar face was full of tears. Tao Anzhi's clay sculpture-like body gradually loosened and fell apart with a thud, revealing a small body.

The woman rushed over quickly and embraced her in her arms.

Tao Anzhi's tender heart suddenly trembled. In her only years, she seldom felt a woman's embrace, which was unusually soft and fragrant, and was still trembling slightly.

Tao Anzhi thought of her grandfather's hen, who would chirp anxiously to hide the chick under her wings on a rainy day.

An Zhi pursed her lips and suddenly felt like she wanted to cry. I even wanted to say those two words. Just a short while, maybe a minute, maybe just a few seconds?

But before she could feel the embrace, the woman withdrew.

Tao Anzhi's courage vanished.

She stared blankly at the woman whispering towards the coffin, crying to the point of choking, and a plain white hand grabbed the fabric on her chest, as if this would relieve something. An Zhi looked at it, and felt that her chest was tight and it was difficult to breathe.

When Teacher Tao's daughter finally arrived, the old uncle sighed and waved people to prepare the coffin.

Tao Anzhi, who had never shed a tear, suddenly let out a sharp howl from his throat, and rushed up to hug the coffin, forcing no one to cover it.

The scene was once sad and chaotic, and the old uncle sighed deeply again. Orphans and widows, sorry to see.

Tao Anzhi broke her throat, and she didn't cry that day. They put the grandfather's coffin in the car and sent it to the town funeral home for cremation, and the woman who had been crying followed.

The old uncle frowned. Originally, according to the customs of the village, women could not be cremated with them, and they were still unmarried women. But his facial muscles twitched, but he didn't say anything.

Tao Anzhi was naturally unable to follow, and the car started, raising a stream of dust.

She raised her head with difficulty and watched.

She was six years old that year, and she hadn't even gone to kindergarten. She didn't know how to die, but she already knew how to die.